The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Needed some mindless entertainment so watched Monsters, Inc.

2. Himself found a free Midsomer Murders channel on Pluto

3. Bought a small, personal fan to speed up ink drying time. Why didn’t I think of this before?

4. Lots of laughs watching Harold Lloyd in 1928 silent film Speedy. Lloyd is so clever, so funny,  and so underrated 

5. Fun day of shopping online sales

How was your week?

What Are You Looking At?

 

While at an appointment, this bear was staring at me.

Wordy Wednesday

 

T Stands for Easy Dessert

 I felt like having a sweet treat. I didn't want to make anything that involved a big production or yielded a ton of temptation. I had a couple of Granny Smith apples on hand and a tube of crescent roll dough. I figured I could make easy apple dumplings. There were lots of recipes for apple dumplings, but they all used lemon-lime soda as one of the ingredients.  Soda is reserved for special occasions and not something I have on hand.

Happily, a little more hunting, I found a Crescent Roll Apple Dumpling recipe that used a simple sugar syrup. Sugar and water I had on hand. The recipe called for two tubes of crescent roll dough, but I only had one roll. The recipe was easy to cut in half.

Mmmm, heavenly smell

Perfect sweet treat with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a cup of tea.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

What We Do In Calligraphy Class

 

I was asked to show what beginners do in calligraphy class. All the letters from A to Z and a decorated initial on a bookmark.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

 Another back to front post.

More green things

Lettuce and spinach or some green things

The greenhouse waiting for somebody to put it together

Vinca spillage

Ring of Daffs

Daffodils I planted when I found out my friend, Derry had passed away. 31 years ago. Where does time go?

A tulip peeking through the daffodils

Daffodils and tulips

Lots of buds on the hydrangea

Some bunny trying to stay warm in the sun

Temperature swings. Brrrrr

Breakfast!

A hawk looking for something to eat. I hope the bunnies are hiding

Violets and dandelions

Tiny white flowers

How does your garden grow?

Saturday Morning at the Library

When I was 5 years old, I was forced to take dancing lessons while the Brother was forced to take accordion lessons. I hated dancing class. The Knights of Columbus Hall where the classes were given had no heat or it wasn't turned on. I hated wearing the pink beginner tights. I liked clacking around in the tap shoes, but Ma wouldn't let me practice inside the house on the wood floors. I spent most of my time in class being miserable and crying. Eventually, I was taken out of class.

While the Brother still had to endure accordion lessons, Dad took me to the library. He would leave me upstairs in the children's library where I could look at the books and choose to take some books home with my own library card. As I got older, I would go downstairs to the adult library and wander among the stacks enjoying the scent of the books before going to find Dad in the reference area consulting the law books and catching up on his work.

So for the next several weeks, a list of my favorite books, some I have read as a child, others as an adult and some  I have read more than once.

The Last Enchantment

Mary Stewart

This is book 3 of the Arthurian Cycle. If you haven't read this book, you can find it at your local library or favorite bookstore.

The Friday Five Good Things

 Five good things that happened this week.

1. Telephone call to catch up with my cousin

2. Take-out from the 99.  A bacon cheeseburger

3. Lots of activity in the honeysuckle vine. Looks like the cardinals made there nest there after all

4. Uno's Deep Dish Pizza take-out after the trip to Boston

5. Himself cooked a delicious pork roast dinner.

How was your week?

Happy Mail

 

MB send me a wonderful card. She said it was her riff from The Bible of Illuminated Letters

using architectural designs for illuminated borders and designs. So pretty.

Wordy Wednesday

 

T Stands for Tie Dye Easter Eggs and Easter Egg Bread

 

For Easter, Italian tradition calls for a braided loaf of bread studded with eggs. Years ago, I found a recipe that makes individual nests so this is what I bake for Easter Sunday breakfast or lunch (if I don't get up early enough to bake the bread.)

The recipe calls for dyed eggs. The eggs are not hard boiled before hand but dyed uncooked. As the bread bakes, the eggs will cook and become "hard boiled."

This year I found a different way to dye the eggs. Instead of dipping the eggs in a solution of hot water, vinegar, and liquid food coloring, you Tie Dye Easter Eggs

You will need white eggs, liquid food coloring, paper towels, disposable nitrile (I have a severe allergy to latex) gloves, small elastics or bread ties, a small spray bottle of clean water, and a glass dish. If you are not baking the eggs in the bread, hard boil them.

Wrap the eggs in paper towels and secure with the elastic

Randomly drop the liquid food coloring on the paper towel. The lightly spritz the paper towel with water. The dye will run. The more water, the less vibrant the eggs will be colored. Then over the sink, gently squeeze and press the paper towel against the egg. This is why you will want to be wearing a pair of gloves.

Lay the eggs to dry in the glass dish and allow them to dry for several hours or overnight. I was impatient and needed the eggs because I was also baking the bread. I put the eggs on a cookie rack over the glass dish and put the eggs under the blower of the mini-split heater to dry them faster.

Tie dye eggs waiting to be baked into the bread

Easter morning breakfast.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Ipevo Mirror Camera

 

I had seen a nifty device on Facebook, a mirror 

that clipped over the camera on your laptop, called Mirror Me. The device I'm using is called Ipevo Mirror Cam. Both are inexpensive and are a good way to test the waters of teaching or showing your work online without the expense of investing in a document or overhead camera.

The mirror clips over the camera on your laptop and while using Skype or Zoom, you can share a hard copy of something you want to show/tell/lecture or you can show something on your tablet.

The IPEVO packaging is designed so the back of the board the mirror is attached to can be used as a white board and also prevents the keyboard keys from being pressed.

You can even do a live demonstration.

If you are showing or demonstrating things with writing (chemistry formulas, handwriting) you will need to download the free IPEVO Visualizer software The software reverses the image so those watching will see whatever you are showing correctly.

Himself chose the IPEVO because they offered a class pack of the mirrors at a very reasonable price. We thought the device would come in handy if we were teaching classes during the Summer, but wanted to go visit the Eldest. We'd be able to teach from anywhere without being tethered to the document camera or having to lug it with us.

The IPEVO is very easy to use. Clip it over your laptop camera.

Start the IPEVO software. Check your resolution (largest numbers) and make sure the full screen box is checked.

Start or join a Zoom or Skype

Click Share Screen to begin your demonstration/lecture/show and tell.

If you are finished with your demo, end screen share, and slide the mirror off the laptop camera. (There is only one camera and both Zoom/Skype and the IPEVO software can't control the laptop camera at the same time. Also be careful about sliding the mirror cam on your laptop screen so you don't scratch the laptop screen with the device.) 

Pretty clever and so much better than holding a hard copy up to the laptop camera.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

 

Daffs popping up everywhere

Look at the feels like temperature. 102 oF.

What a difference a few days makes in New England. 32o F and snow! And a bonus 42!

A couple of Goldfinches take refuge in the storm

Spring has sprung

The grass is ris'

I wonder where the flowers is?

The poor daffodils!

The light with a beehive hair-do

Storm? It was only supposed to be a dusting of snow!

Avalanche from the solar panels.

A Nuthatch 

Looks like the forsythia survived 

and the daffodils

and the maple.

Blossoms in snow

Saturday afternoon, the snow melted off the steps and walk

Sorrow

Dedo keeping vigil

How does your garden grow?